Simon RushworthRyders Creed released second long player Lost Souls to a fanfare of critical acclaim last week. Frontman Ryan Antony took time out from promoting the band’s best work yet to count down the albums getting regular rotation during lockdown.
1. Audioslave – Audioslave
I find myself spending long periods of time checking out new music, listening to loads of different bands and really exploring what the music world has to offer. But I always return to this album. This is one of the greatest albums ever created by any band, anywhere in my opinion. It’s one of the first albums I can remember listening to in full, on cassette tape in my dad’s little Rover Metro on the way to sailing every Sunday morning when I was a kid. It will always be one of my all-time favourite albums.
2. Alter Bridge – Blackbird
This is an absolutely stunning album but it was hard trying to pin just one album from Alter Bridge’s collection to put in my top 10. For the record, I would like to state that, in my opinion, there isn’t a single song in their entire collective works that I don’t believe to be a total and utter masterpiece. I am a fan of every song they have ever released. I am a huge fan of the band and the music – I’ve seen them live five times, I think, and I have been an avid follower of this band since I was 16. Alter Bridge are incredible.
3. Shinedown – Attention, Attention
Shinedown are another band that I find extremely difficult to fault a single song they’ve done. I’m also a huge fan of Brent Smith as a person, he just seems like a genuinely nice, down to earth, committed guy who loves what he does. His voice is incredible and he has such a presence on stage that I can honestly say blows me away every time I see them live. It was hard to just choose the one album from these guys too. But Attention Attention will always hold a special place in my heart because I was actually lucky enough to win a competition at Download Festival 2018 to watch any band I wanted to see on any stage, from the side of the stage. So I took my better half to see Shinedown on the Main Stage of Download Festival and we watched their entire set from the balcony. It was an emotional experience knowing that one day I might, hopefully, be doing the same thing with my band.
4. Badflower – OK, I’m Sick
I first discovered this band back in 2018 because I was watching some Highly Suspect videos on YouTube and their Official Music Video for a song called Ghost popped up in my suggested watch list. So I watched it…then I went onto their channel and watched every other video they had…I then went on to their socials and followed them to try and find out whether they were going to be releasing an album any time soon. As soon as they released this album I fell in love with it instantly. It’s full of all killer, no filler songs with each song holding an incredible message. I am not at all ashamed to say that I have cried, laughed, pondered and lost myself in this album. It’s absolutely stunning.
5. Black Stone Cherry – Kentucky (Deluxe Edition)
Again it was hard to just choose the one album from these guys as I’m a huge fan of everything they have released so far. I have seen Black Stone Cherry live about as many times as I’ve seen Alter Bridge and each time they keep getting better and better. However, the moment that will stay with me forever is Ramblin’ Man Fair Festival 2019. We dropped BSC a message on Instagram letting them know that we would be performing on the same day as them and they got back to us wishing us well for the day. After we had performed, we wanted to get to the side of the stage to see them perform on the main stage, and we were nearly refused entry due to the security on the day. But after bumping into the band before they went on, they invited us up onto stage to view their performance from there and the guitar tech of the band told the security guards that we were with the band. It was an incredible experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Apart from being a great band, they are a bunch of truly great guys too.
6. Highly Suspect – The Boy Who Died Wolf
I first listened to these guys in 2018 thanks to a good friend of mine, John Hartwell, from the band These Wicked Rivers. He advised that I check them out, so I did. I started by watching a few of their videos, then I downloaded both of their albums on Spotify and after listening through them a couple of times I was totally hooked. The way they write musically and lyrically was brilliant. Both of their albums, this one and Mister Asylum get played regularly whilst I’m chilling out or driving around because I thoroughly enjoy them. They’ve very quickly become two of my favourite albums. Their third album, however, is very different and I can honestly say that there are only three or four songs that I actually like. If they go back to writing music the way that they did on their first two albums again then maybe I’ll be able to get back behind their new music. For now the first two will always remain firm favourites in my eyes.
7. Rival Sons – Feral Roots
This album is genius from start to finish. If you haven’t heard this album yet then what are you doing? Rival Sons are an absolutely fantastic band anyway – their live performances are great, Jay’s voice is insane and their riffs are awesome! I love Rival Sons and we were lucky enough to have them listen to one of our tracks a few years ago – responding with some really valuable advise and feedback. They’re great guys, talented musicians and songwriters and this album is pure gold.
8. Daughtry – Cage To Rattle
A band that I have been a fan of since I was about 13/14 years old is a band called Daughtry. Honestly, Chris Daughtry has one of the best voices in music and the band is hugely underrated in the industry. This album and every single album and collab. they have done before this is superb! Some songs are a bit cheesey, a bit American, a bit country and a bit poppy but all in all the band is fantastic and deserves a lot more recognition and attention than they get.
9. Nothing But Thieves – Nothing But Thieves
I recently discovered Nothing But Thieves and their music so they are relatively new to my music library. But Conner Mason’s voice is incredible, his falsetto skill and his range is huge. Their music is catchy, emotional, the songs build well and most of them are really easy listening. They’re solid to sing along to as well which means that they help me improve on my singing ability – to learn them and adapt my technique to reach the notes. I love their music and I especially love this album. They will be up there in my favourites list for a long time. I’ve just gotta go and see them live now…
10. Limp Bizkit – Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavoured Water
This has been one of my all time favourite albums for a very long time. There’s a lot of Limp Bizkit’s material that I really don’t rate but this is the only album of theirs that I have been able to listen to from start to finish, over and over and still greatly enjoy. I first heard this album when I was 11 because I stole my dad’s CD and listened to it without him knowing on my old Walkman. Since the first listen, right up til now, 14 years later, it’s still one of my all time favourite albums. With my first ever band I was in, we covered Take A Look Around at our live shows and it always went down really well. It’s a fun, enjoyable, groovy, heavy album with some really emotional and meaningful songs mixed in there. Love it.
*Lost Souls by Ryders Creed is out now via Off Yer Rocka Recordings.